


rolling in the deep

by vivapinatawiki



Series: Dr. Neo Cortex's Top Secret Playlist [1]
Category: Crash Bandicoot (Video Games)
Genre: M/M, friendly reminder that a large percentage of Cortex's playlist contains songs about lost love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:55:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29837739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivapinatawiki/pseuds/vivapinatawiki
Summary: The scars of your love remind me of us. They keep me thinking that we almost had it all.
Relationships: Crash Bandicoot/Neo Cortex
Series: Dr. Neo Cortex's Top Secret Playlist [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2193579
Kudos: 9





	rolling in the deep

**Author's Note:**

> A small test drabble to kick off this little series I have in mind. All of the sections will be based on a song that is on the playlist. Also, yes, this playlist is very real and was released officially by Playstation. Just look up Dr. Neo Cortex's Top Secret Playlist and you'll find it.

Sometimes, on long nights left alone to dwell on his past failings, when his playlist of songs to drown out his sorrows had looped three or four times and helped the frustrated tears run dry, Neo Cortex wondered if his animosity towards Crash Bandicoot was as mutual as he'd always assumed it had been. Most of the time, it was easy enough to chalk it up to the furball being too stupid to remember all their past encounters, what with his very fleeting attention span and slow wit, but he knew that on some deeper level, Crash probably didn't hate him. Crash didn't have it in him to hate anyone. Hating someone took mental energy and dedication that he knew the bandicoot wasn't capable of.

Crash had been so quick to give him a second chance when he'd suggested a team up to help take down N.Tropy. _Crash had rushed over and hugged him_ , nuzzled that wet nose against his cheek like he'd been reunited with an old friend. Cortex had been so overwhelmed by the unbridled affection, of sentimentality when the brutish bandicoot embraced him that his first reaction had not been fury or disgust, but bewilderment. He'd forgotten how soft his fur was. Even now, after living out in the wild, it still remained downy soft. Warm. Familiar.

The short time he'd had with the two siblings hadn't been quite as unbearable as he'd expected, either. In Coco, he saw much of himself; a brilliant mind, astute, confident, cunning but with the same level of athleticism as her brother. It was such a shame she'd chosen the other side, she would have made the perfect candidate for a general all on her own.

The hurt he felt when dwelling back on that time back in the lab didn't... cut quite so deeply, though. His mind always shifted back to Crash.

Crash _, Crash, **Crash.**_

Cortex's first instinct had been to travel back and prevent Crash from becoming what he now was; something that struck a chord with him the more he thought about it. Killing him used to be the first plan of action; now, it was considered a last resort. It was hard not to think of what could have been. Obsess over it. Lament over it. Drive himself to the brink of insanity over it. Again, and again, he looked over photographs of his old experiments, scribbled notes, transcripts of audio logs and video footage of his general to be making leaps and bounds in his training regiment.

An alternate reality where he was by his side, under his control and leading his army to victory was what Neo Cortex could call an ideal world.


End file.
